Cold war 2.0

[Virtual ghost]

 

[Virtual ghost]

The Russian siege of Pokrovsk is being dismantled piece by piece.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Will Ukraine turn into WW3? Macron doesn’t rule it out

 

[Virtual ghost]

China says it backs new US and Russian ‘consensus’ on Ukraine war

Ukraine’s allies in DC tell Zelenskyy: Take the rare earths deal

 

[Red Herring]

 

[Virtual ghost]

Since it is the last day of election campaign in Germany.



Does Merz have what it takes?

Friedrich Merz challenges Ursula von der Leyen for Europe’s crown

Friedrich Merz gives women voters the ick

Vance floats US troop withdrawal from Germany over free-speech concerns

 

[Virtual ghost]

Chinese naval 'live-fire' drills spark concern in Australia

Sweden investigating new reports of Baltic Sea cable damage

 

[Red Herring]

Since it is the last day of election campaign in Germany.

Friedrich Merz gives women voters the ick

Yes, women have a problem with him. He famously voted against against making rape within marriage a crime in 1997. That was 28 years ago and it is still held against him.

But seriously, "I have a wife and two daughters, therefor I can't have outdated views on women" is the little sister of "I'm not a racist, I have a Black friend". It's not that he is actively against social progress, it's that he is monothematically focused on the economy and the interests of his CEO buddies at the costs of everything else (including climate protection). But he is in many regards a dinosaur. He seems to want to take the country back to the days of Helmut Kohl.

You made it a point that you were not surprised that women tended to be clearly to the left of men in Germany, but as the graph in the article you linked shows, the opposite has actually been the case for most of the last 80 years. The same division among young adults has already been observed in the English speaking world, so I guess that's why this might have appeared a given. But it is actually a relatively recent trend.

Regarding him being surrounded almost exclusively by men - I just read today that he "doesn't exclude" a cabinet with more female than male ministers. For whatever that is worth.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Yes, women have a problem with him. He famously voted against against making rape within marriage a crime in 1997. That was 28 years ago and it is still held against him.

But seriously, "I have a wife and two daughters, therefor I can't have outdated views on women" is the little sister of "I'm not a racist, I have a Black friend". It's not that he is actively against social progress, it's that he is monothematically focused on the economy and the interests of his CEO buddies at the costs of everything else (including climate protection). But he is in many regards a dinosaur. He seems to want to take the country back to the days of Helmut Kohl.

You made it a point that you were not surprised that women tended to be clearly to the left of men in Germany, but as the graph in the article you linked shows, the opposite has actually been the case for most of the last 80 years. The same division among young adults has already been observed in the English speaking world, so I guess that's why this might have appeared a given. But it is actually a relatively recent trend.

Regarding him being surrounded almost exclusively by men - I just read today that he "doesn't exclude" a cabinet with more female than male ministers. For whatever that is worth.

To tell you the truth I was willing to bet that you will comment on that one.


However I am not sure that he is really a dinosaur. Dinosaurs tend to not have very large lead in the polls. It is often that educated young urban liberal people tend to see people like him as dinosaurs. However then the rural vote comes in and such people end up in existential crisis. The very fact that it clearly seems that he + AfD will have over 50% of the parliament proves that he isn't really a dinosaur. I still remember that Kamala speech from about 6 month saying that Trump presents history and Democratic party is the future. Not to mention that I am just months away from the vote that could end my green progressive party as major party altogether. I know that I am not comforting but a man has to recognize when the table has been turned. The incomming decades may not be anything like what typical liberal thought they would be. However that is what defines who is the actual dinosaur.

 

[Red Herring]

To tell you the truth I was willing to bet that you will comment on that one.


However I am not sure that he is really a dinosaur. Dinosaurs tend to not have very large lead in the polls. It is often that educated young urban liberal people tend to see people like him as dinosaurs. However then the rural vote comes in and such people end up in existential crisis. The very fact that it clearly seems that he + AfD will have over 50% of the parliament proves that he isn't really a dinosaur. I still remember that Kamala speech from about 6 month saying that Trump presents history and Democratic party is the future. Not to mention that I am just months away from the vote that could end my green progressive party as major party altogether. I know that I am not comforting but a man has to recognize when the table has been turned. The incomming decades may not be anything like what typical liberal thought they would be. However that is what defines who is the actual dinosaur.

I guess that depends on how you define a dinosaur. He stands for a return to the past. A large share of the population wants a return to the past. Does that make the past the future?


I recently listened to an interesting talk by Yale historian Timothy Snyder on the role different concepts of time play in policy building.

 

[Coriolis]

I guess that depends on how you define a dinosaur. He stands for a return to the past. A large share of the population wants a return to the past. Does that make the past the future?


I recently listened to an interesting talk by Yale historian Timothy Snyder on the role different concepts of time play in policy building.

I had the same reaction. An idolizing of dinosaurs can too easily lead to the dangers of a Jurassic Park.

 

[Virtual ghost]

I guess that depends on how you define a dinosaur. He stands for a return to the past. A large share of the population wants a return to the past. Does that make the past the future?


I recently listened to an interesting talk by Yale historian Timothy Snyder on the role different concepts of time play in policy building.

Ok, but in my book dinosaur is someone who is on the way out. What in this particular case doesn't seem to be imminent outcome.

But yes, U turns can be done. As a matter of fact I am watching some of them all around me.
One of them is my green party losing ground to BSW style party. Which evidently has that "turn back the clock" vibe (on the walls they have pictures of people who were running gulags).
However if a few strongholds switch back the greens will become financially crippled and that can basically only lead to fade out.

So yes, future and past can be equals.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Brussels considers major U-turn on green reporting rules

As i just said: I am not really sure who is the actual dinosaur here.

 

[Red Herring]

Brussels considers major U-turn on green reporting rules

As i just said: I am not really sure who is the actual dinosaur here.

If a majority were to revert to using horse drawn carriages that wouldn't make them the future of transportation.

But okay, let's call them living fossiles then, like ginko trees or crocodiles.

 

[Virtual ghost]

If a majority were to revert to using horse drawn carriages that wouldn't make them the future of transportation.

But okay, let's call them living fossiles then, like ginko trees or crocodiles.

Ok. But if we ban internal combustion engine for the sake of the climate while wild weather, disrepair and lack of resources masses up the renewable energy ... we will be back to carriages in no time.

My point is simply "never say never".
Once a man goes a little deeper into engineering of what was build over the last 200 year it should pretty quickly realize how much all of it is potentially one big house of cards.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Europe targets homegrown nuclear deterrent as Trump sides with Putin

The new era is knocking at the door.

 

[ceecee]

Oh. That's nice.

Ex-Brazil President Bolsonaro charged over alleged coup that included plan to poison Lula

The alleged plot included a plan to poison President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and shoot dead Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a foe of Bolsonaro's, Brazil’s prosecutor-general said.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Red Herring]

Tomorrow is election day and only yesterday a young Syrian refugee stabbed a Spanish tourist at the holocaust memorial in Berlin. He was soon arrested and apparently declared that he had wanted to "kill some Jews".

It is already the second violent attack at the memorial this year.

I sometimes think these perpetrators and the far-right are actually in it together.

Ever since snap elections were declared these weird attacks (including the knife attack on a group of kindergarden children in Aschaffenburg) seem to have become an almost weekly occurance.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Clashes erupt as Bulgarian nationalists march against euro

Anti-EU protesters storm EU mission in Bulgaria


Desperation. They realized that Russian influence in the country is starting to visibly evaporate (and voters of this party are pro-Russians, the party is member of the political block led by AfD). In other words this reaction is because new pro EU government was formed quite recently (it is led by center right). Recently Bulgaria also joined borderless Schengen area and now introduction of Euro is the next priority. What altogether with some other elements is removing country from the Russian influence. Bulgaria is often considered to be the poorest and most dysfunctional member of the EU.

 

[Virtual ghost]

New Zealand says China fired live rounds in new navy drills

Chinese naval 'live-fire' drills spark concern in Australia